Carolyn in Oceania: Underground cave dweller

Saying good-bye to NZ was a little heart-breaking, as its sad to think that I may not ever see it again. My last few days there were pretty low key, considering I was jumping from town to town every day. Spent some time in Mount Maunganui, which is pretty much a rich-Kiwi resort town...a one-bedroom apartment across the street from the beach (no houses I saw were actually on the beach), started at $1.5 million. There was one little campervan park, which was pretty weak in regards to size and landscaping, but the thing books up two years in advance! Apparently it gets super packed in the summer, and the backpacker bus doesn't do trips out there at that time of year because the traffic is so backed up...maybe even as bad as Sylvan Lake on a long weekend! So I felt fortunate to be able to check it out.
I also did a little side trip to the Coromandel peninsula, which was absolutely beautiful. We stopped at a hot water beach where our guide armed us with spades and we followed the throng of people down to the beach, where we could see steam curling up from the sand. The idea was to dig yourself a little pit and then wallow in the water which seeped up from below that was hotter than a hot tub. We were told the water could get up to 60 degrees Celsius, so in some spots we had to abandon our digging because we couldn't bear even standing in the ankle deep water! And on my last night in Auckland before flying to Cairns, there was a Tahiti dance group doing a performance in the hostel bar...I was talking to one of the dancers (Kaverah? He's on the left in the picture below), and apparently they had been in Canada this past summer, performing. It was pretty intense, with chanting and chest slapping (well, for the guys anyways), but it was an awesome treat for my last night out.

And the biggest misconception I've heard about Canada so far...

In the internet/lounge area of the hostel in Mount Mauganui, a Brazilian guy was picking away at his guitar, when he stopped to ask where I'm from. When I replied, Canada, he shuddered involuntarily and said "Brrrr....so cold". I replied yeah, it could get pretty cold for a few months of the year, but it wasn't like that the whole time. Then, in his broken English, he told me he had heard Canada has cities that are "down", as he slanted his hand towards the floor. I had no idea what he was talking about, so a guessing game ensued. After a few painful minutes, he managed to get his meaning across. He had heard that Canada has underground cities where people lived to escape the cold. Heehee!! The corners of my mouth started tugging upwards, but I stanched the laugher, as I just shook my head and said "Nope, don't got any of those".

I was tempted to tell a New Zealander though that yes, hockey is quite similar to curling...